Best movies like Arrival
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 747000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: psychological, intellectual, philosophical, reflective, twist ending, futuristic, visually stunning, enigmatic, cerebral, thought provoking
Best tv shows and movies like Arrival (2016):
Similar in 81%
Childhood's End (2015)
Plot Summary:
After peaceful aliens invade earth, humanity finds itself living in a utopia under the indirect rule of the aliens, but does this utopia come at a price?.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 247 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, philosophical, suspense, serious, futuristic, thought provoking, exciting, apocalyptic, stylized, intellectual
Similar in 82%
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
Plot Summary:
A representative of an alien race that went through drastic evolution to survive its own climate change, Klaatu comes to Earth to assess whether humanity can prevent the environmental damage they have inflicted on their own planet. When barred from speaking to the United Nations, he decides humankind shall be exterminated so the planet can survive.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 177000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, stylized, apocalyptic, visual, atmospheric, suspense, mockbuster, cult classic, intelligent
Similar in 79%
Sphere (1998)
Plot Summary:
The OSSA discovers a spacecraft thought to be at least 300 years old at the bottom of the ocean. Immediately following the discovery, they decide to send a team down to the depths of the ocean to study the space craft.They are the best of best, smart and logical, and the perfect choice to learn more about the spacecraft.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 111000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: scary, psychological, mind bending, tense, suspenseful, breathtaking, exciting, atmospheric, clever, confusing
Similar in 79%
Signs (2002)
Plot Summary:
A family living on a farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields which suggests something more frightening to come.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 381000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: enigmatic, scary, twist ending, suspense, psychological, atmospheric, tense, psychological thriller, suspenseful, creepy
Similar in 78%
Annihilation (2018)
Plot Summary:
A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 353000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychedelic, psychological, disturbing, lovecraft, psychological thriller, thought provoking, surreal, mindfuck, scary
Similar in 80%
Solaris (1972)
Plot Summary:
A psychologist is sent to a space station orbiting a planet called Solaris to investigate the death of a doctor and the mental problems of cosmonauts on the station. He soon discovers that the water on the planet is a type of brain which brings out repressed memories and obsessions.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 97000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 167 min
Plot tags: art house, atmospheric, cerebral, mind bending, enigmatic, psychedelic, intellectual, futuristic, surreal, psychological
Similar in 83%
I Origins (2014)
Plot Summary:
I Origins follows a molecular biologist studying the evolution of the human eye. He finds his work permeating his life after a brief encounter with an exotic young woman who slips away from him. As his research continues years later with his lab partner, they make a stunning scientific discovery that has far reaching implications and complicates both his scientific and and spiritual beliefs. Traveling half way around the world, he risks everything he has ever known to validate his theory.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 132000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, spiritual, mind bending, enigmatic, philosophical, cerebral, atmospheric, psychological, romantic, mindfuck
Similar in 83%
The Signal (2014)
Plot Summary:
Three college students on a road trip across the Southwest experience a detour – the tracking of a computer genius who has already hacked into MIT and exposed security faults. When the trio find themselves drawn to an eerily isolated area, suddenly everything goes dark. When one of the students regains consciousness, he finds himself in a waking nightmare.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 69000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: futuristic, surreal, suspense, mind bending, suspenseful, mindfuck, mind blowing, psychological, tense, atmospheric
Similar in 79%
The Man from Earth (2007)
Plot Summary:
An impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he never ages and has walked the earth for 14,000 years.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 197000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: philosophical, psychological, sincere, serious, reflective, spiritual, cerebral, mindfuck, mind blowing, mind bending
Similar in 81%
Cloud Atlas (2012)
Plot Summary:
A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future. Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Based on the award winning novel by David Mitchell. Directed by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 371000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, UK, Spain
Duration: 172 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, psychological, futuristic, mind bending, surreal, spiritual, enigmatic, non-linear, atmospheric, reflective
Similar in 76%
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Plot Summary:
Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 706000
Genere: Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 149 min
Plot tags: futuristic, philosophical, mind bending, psychedelic, cerebral, thought provoking, atmospheric, intellectual, visual, visually stunning
Similar in 76%
Prometheus (2012)
Plot Summary:
A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 635000
Genere: Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: futuristic, suspenseful, scary, atmospheric, dark, suspense, philosophical, tense, space horror, lovecraft
Similar in 83%
Gravity (2013)
Plot Summary:
Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first Shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The Shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone-tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness of space. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 853000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, suspenseful, scenic, suspense, minimal cast, intense, breathtaking, visually stunning, visual, serious
Similar in 78%
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Plot Summary:
After an encounter with UFOs, a line worker feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 213000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, UK, China
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, breathtaking, captivating, cerebral, atmospheric, visually appealing, visual, futuristic, light, sentimental
Similar in 84%
The Fountain (2006)
Plot Summary:
Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 247000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: surreal, melancholic, artsy, philosophical, atmospheric, thought provoking, emotional, cerebral, non-linear, touching
Similar in 85%
Contact (1997)
Plot Summary:
Contact is a science fiction film about an encounter with alien intelligence. Based on the novel by Carl Sagan the film starred Jodie Foster as the one chosen scientist who must make some difficult decisions between her beliefs, the truth, and reality.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 289000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: cerebral, inspirational, philosophical, futuristic, emotional, mind blowing, captivating, suspenseful, exciting, thought provoking
Similar in 86%
Primer (2004)
Plot Summary:
Friends and fledgling entrepreneurs invent a device in their garage which reduces the apparent mass of any object placed inside it, but they discover that it has some highly unexpected capabilities - ones that could enable them to do and to have seemingly anything they want. Taking advantage of this unique opportunity is the first challenge they face. Dealing with the consequences is the next.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 113000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 77 min
Plot tags: psychological, philosophical, surreal, independent film, mind bending, confusing, thought provoking, enigmatic, clever, mindfuck
Similar in 86%
Source Code (2011)
Plot Summary:
Decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens wakes up in the body of an unknown man, discovering he's involved in a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. He learns he's part of a top-secret experimental program that enables him to experience the final 8 minutes of another person's life. Colter re-lives the train incident over and over again, gathering more clues each time. But can he discover who is responsible for the attack before the next one happens?.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 542000
Genere: Action, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, France, Germany
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: suspense, surprise ending, clever, mind bending, thought provoking, suspenseful, captivating, cerebral, tricky, mindfuck
Similar in 82%
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Plot Summary:
Major Bill Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and dropped into combat. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an alpha alien down with him. He awakens back at the beginning of the same day and is forced to fight and die again... and again - as physical contact with the alien has thrown him into a time loop.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 721000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: futuristic, mind bending, exciting, heroic, clever, captivating, suspenseful, intense, entertaining, smart
Similar in 82%
Donnie Darko (2001)
Plot Summary:
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 837000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, atmospheric, mind bending, philosophical, cult classic, clever, psychological thriller, cerebral, independent film
Similar in 78%
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Plot Summary:
A robotic boy, the first programmed to love, David is adopted as a test case by a Cybertronics employee and his wife. Though he gradually becomes their child, a series of unexpected circumstances make this life impossible for David. Without final acceptance by humans or machines, David embarks on a journey to discover where he truly belongs, uncovering a world in which the line between robot and machine is both vast and profoundly thin.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 319000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, philosophical, sentimental, fairy tale, intellectual, atmospheric, captivating, touching, futuristic, tech noir
Similar in 90%
Ex Machina (2014)
Plot Summary:
Caleb, a 26 year old coder at the world's largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company. But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world's first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 575000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: psychological, philosophical, futuristic, twist ending, mind bending, thought provoking, intellectual, tense, minimal cast, cerebral
Similar in 82%
Europa Report (2013)
Plot Summary:
A crew of international astronauts are sent on a private mission to Jupiter's fourth moon.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 75000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, cerebral, suspense, suspenseful, lovecraft, space horror, philosophical, futuristic, realistic
Similar in 78%
Knowing (2009)
Plot Summary:
A teacher opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son's elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions -- some that have already occurred and others that are about to -- that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 245000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, Australia
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: suspense, exciting, suspenseful, scary, futuristic, twist ending, surprise ending, thought provoking, absurd, mindfuck
Similar in 89%
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Plot Summary:
Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 637000
Genere: Action, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, Canada, Spain
Duration: 164 min
Plot tags: futuristic, neo noir, tech noir, thought provoking, detective, visually stunning, aesthetic, philosophical, entertaining, visual
Similar in 90%
Looper (2012)
Plot Summary:
In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past where a looper, a hired gun, like Joe is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good until the day the mob decides to close the loop, sending back Joe's future self for assassination.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 596000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, China
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: futuristic, clever, thought provoking, mind bending, exciting, neo noir, tense, confusing, cerebral, suspenseful
Similar in 76%
K-PAX (2001)
Plot Summary:
Prot is a patient at a mental hospital who claims to be from a far away Planet. His psychiatrist tries to help him, only to begin to doubt his own explanations.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 191000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, cerebral, sentimental, surprise ending, futuristic, philosophical, atmospheric, clever, mind twisting
Similar in 88%
The Prestige (2006)
Plot Summary:
A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 14000000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, twist ending, clever, atmospheric, psychological, mind bending, intellectual, enigmatic, confusing, tense
Similar in 81%
Interstellar (2014)
Plot Summary:
Interstellar chronicles the adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 20000000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, UK, Canada
Duration: 169 min
Plot tags: futuristic, mind bending, cerebral, philosophical, thought provoking, clever, atmospheric, breathtaking, serious, epic
Similar in 84%
Inception (2010)
Plot Summary:
Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.
IMDB Rating: 8.8
IMDB Votes: 25000000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 148 min
Plot tags: psychological, mind bending, clever, cerebral, surreal, twist ending, futuristic, confusing, suspense, philosophical